The Moon Will Shine: Blowing Flames
by rosecoloredglasses22
Summary: "The moon will shine when the forest falls, and lead the forgotten to safety." A prophecy that will tear a small she-cat's world apart. A prophecy she doesn't want to fulfill. A prophecy about the death of her family. A prophecy about a choice. Rated T, just to be safe, though probably just for the violence. I don't own the Warriors series.
1. Prologue

A small dappled brown and white she-cat hissed in pain, her blue eyes glowing silver in the misty moonlight. The ginger and white tom paced faster outside the den, his long fur rippling in the strong wind as he wailed for his mate. A flick of the tail from a younger brown and grey she cat silenced him.

"I need to go inside now, and help Darkthorn. Foxtail, stay outside." The younger she-cat bounded in to help her mentor. Much to her displeasure, the tom was in hot pursuit as she entered the den.

"Foxtail, out of the way. Fawnpetal needs space. Dovelight, go take care of Fawnpetal" A dark tabby she cat demanded, emerging from the ferns on the other side of the den. Darkthorn nudged him out of the den, her amber eyes warning him not to come back in as she turned back to help Dovelight out.

"Darkthorn, she's in pain, and the kits are coming!" Dovelight frantically cried as Fawnpetal howled in agony. Darkthorn turned to her comrade.

"Get her a stick, and I'll…" Her eyes widened as a kit slipped out. A smoky silver little kit. Darkthorn nosed the kit next to Fawnpetal. Three more kits were delivered before something went wrong. Darkthorn growled in frustration. She knew everything had gone too well. Suddenly, a streak of light shot across the sky. Darkthorn raised her head, and muttered something under her breath.

"Darkthorn, there's another kit!" Dovelight called. A smoky silver she-kit, a pure black tom, a golden and white she-kit, a brown and white tom, and… an oddly patterned, tiny, black and white she-kit. Darkthorn knew she was special. And Darkthorn also knew she meant bad news.

A majestic white and silver she-cat stared deeply into the stars. "Darkthorn, is Fawnpetal ok?" She had lost too much these past few moons to lose her daughter now.

"Your daughter is fine, Flowerstar. And I have received word from StarClan. My time is almost up, and they want Birchpelt to return to his position. Dovelight has to leave with the others. You know we can't carry on like this. You lost your only son to starvation. Will you lose Spottedwhisper or Fawnpetal? We must split the Clan."

"Anything else?" Flowerstar spoke gruffly, but truth be told, it had been a while since good news had graced her ears. Not only that, but her brother, Birchpelt, had fathered a kit in ShadowClan while he was a medicine cat. She didn't have enough faith in him to put him back in that position, but she did have faith in her ancestors. She sighed.

"Yes, actually." Darkthorn's eyes grew far away. "_The moon will shine when the forest falls, and lead the forgotten to safety." _Darkthorn blinked, and the older she cat was back to her usual cheery self. "I think it has something to do with Forestwhisker becoming the leader of the cats we're sending to Sundown Peak, though what 'moon' refers to, I'm not quite sure." Flowerstar nodded, though the ominous hints of her mate's demise sent chills down her spine as a cloud passed over the moon. Darkthorn yowled and dropped to the ground with a loud thump. "Flowerstar… Your brother…" Darkthorn managed to get out those last few words before she slumped to the ground. Flowerstar dipped her head in respect of her friend's passing.

"I will find out what the prophecy means." Flowerstar whispered darkly. "No matter what."


	2. Chapter 1

"_The moon will shine when the forest falls, and lead the forgotten to safety…"_

"_Please! Help me! I need to know what it means…"_

"_Her last prophecy…"_

_Flowerstar lost another life…"_

"_Spottedwhisper is dead…"_

"_ForestClan is rising…"_

"_KILL THEM ALL!"_

"Moonkit! Come on, wake up!" The small black and white she-cat blinked sleepily at the large shape in front of her. "Moonkit! Get UP!" Moonkit hissed in frustration. Of course _he_ had to be the one to wake her. Why couldn't it have been Ashkit?

"Ok, ok, I'm up, Fogkit. Next time, try to be more patient." Moonkit narrowed her eyes in her bulky black-furred brother's direction. She sighed when she noticed he was looking the other way. She was so _tiny_! Why did she have to be the runt of the litter? Couldn't she at least be average size for a kit? She always got over looked!

"Hey, Moonkit!" She heard a familiar voice call from outside the nursery. Her father, the loyal senior warrior Foxtail, was probably one of the most respected cats in the Clan. Almost everybody looked up to him. By almost everyone, she didn't include herself. Moonkit's dad thought she never should have been born, and rarely spoke to her.

"What is it, Foxtail?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. She was nervous. If her father was calling for her, it was bad… very bad. She slowly crawled out of the den and plopped herself down next to Foxtail.

"Mousefang wanted to see you. Though why, I don't know." He growled. She nodded, and raced off to find the deputy. Mousefang had become like her father, as he was to only one who truly acted like her father.

"How's the little rascal?" Mousefang teased from Deputy's Rock. As Moonkit was only two moons old, she hadn't seen much of camp. But Mousefang had promised her a full tour of ForestClan camp, so she, of course, was out of her mind with excitement. But since she was still the tiniest member of the newly founded Clan, they only did a section, such as a den or the fresh kill pile, at a time.

"Good!" Moonkit giggled. "So what are we taking a look at today?" She asked, bounding up to meet him as he jumped down to the ground.

"Leader's den. Foreststar won't mind if we take a look. You're his granddaughter and I'm the deputy." He smiled wryly. Moonkit jumped in excitement. He padded slowly towards the Highridge, where Foreststar often addressed the Clan. "Go ahead, Moonkit. Foreststar's out on patrol." Mousefang murmured. Moonkit crept into the leader's den. The Highridge was a large pile of rocks, with a ledge stemming out. Inside the pile was enough space for a comfy den. Vines flowed down from the trees and made a barrier. Only one cat at a time could get through.

"Wow!" Moonkit yelped. Soft sand covered the inside of the den. A small pool of water trickled out of one of the rocks, and his nest lay on the other side. "This is… amazing!" Moonkit cried.

"Come on, slow slug. Do you want to see your friends before they're apprenticed?" meowed Mousefang. Moonkit backed out of the den and into a large gray and white tabby.

"Oops, sorry… Swiftkit?" Moonkit's eyes widened. Her friend was larger than she remembered.

"Yep! Oh, and here comes Blazekit. We wanted to see if you wanted to hear a story with us from Goldenpelt, Sweetbriar, and Pinefoot. You know, since Snowkit and I are getting apprenticed at sunhigh?" Swiftkit looked down at his paws. She smiled.

"Of course I'll come! Let's go!" Moonkit mewed happily, falling into step with Blazekit. She looked her friend up and down. He was four moons old, but had lost his mother, Honeyflower, to a fox that had attacked the nursery. Rosecloud, Swiftkit and Snowkit's mother, had nursed him. "Hey, Blazekit, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Are you ok? Foxtail's been in a worse mood than usual. Remember last time?" He mumbled, only loud enough so she could hear. Moonkit shuddered at the memory of the fox attack. Rosecloud, Honeyflower, and Fawnpetal had been attacking while Foxtail rescued the kits. He had left her in the collapsing den to die. It was only Mousefang's quick wit and kind heart that saved her life.

"Yeah… I'm fine. Let's catch up to Swiftkit. We don't want him to think we've gotten lost!" She grinned to hide the pain she'd been feeling a moment ago. Blazekit nodded, and together, they ran.


	3. Chapter 2

As Moonkit, Blazekit, and Swiftkit padded into the elder's den, Moonkit couldn't help but feel honored. The elder's den, a large hollowed out fallen tree, was most likely the most visited den of the Clan. She heard Blazekit hacking on squirrel fur and purred with amusement.

"Why'd you choose a squirrel to bring?" Moonkit teased.

"It was your idea to bring fresh-kill!" Blazekit coughed again.

"Hush, you two! You know Goldenpelt and Pinefoot are asleep around this time, and Sweetbriar always tells stories better when she's eaten!" Swiftkit hissed quietly.

"Hello? Who's there?" Moonkit heard a familiar voice.

"Sweetbriar!" Moonkit cried, rushing forward to meet the oldest cat in the Clan.

"Can you tell us about Flowerstar? Please?" Swiftkit begged. The three kits had always been fascinated with the fearless leader they had once known.

"Alright then. Long ago, a strong white and silver warrior was just made the deputy…" Moonkit closed her eyes as Sweetbriar began. She wanted to picture Flowerstar, the grandmother she couldn't remember. Suddenly, she couldn't hear Sweetbriar's gentle voice anymore. All she heard was the sunhigh chatter of camp. That was strange. She remembered it being closer to dawn. Moonkit opened one eye to check her surroundings and found herself in what could only be the ThunderClan camp. As she stood up, she wondered how she had gotten there.

"Excuse me?" Moonkit tried on the cat next to her. The cat blindly walked passed her. She gasped as she recognized the silver and white pelt from Sweetbriar's stories: Flowerstar. The she-cat jumped up on a tree as more cats gathered around her, their gaze intent on the cat in front of them, a cat who obviously held a lot of power in their clan.

_She must have been the leader at this point. That's why everyone's staring at her. But why does she look so angry? Have they just been to battle? What's going on? _Moonkit was confused. These cats looked dangerous, and she hadn't remembered this part of the story.

"The moon will shine when the forest falls, and lead the forgotten to safety!" Flowerstar yowled, her voice rising. Then, Moonkit was in a fire, the camp burning to ashes. Foreststar was fighting with Flowerstar, and as he was struck down, a wave of blood soaked Moonkit, her grandfather's blood…

Moonkit woke with a start. She was still in the elder's den. But she had felt the soft breeze tickle her ears, the hard stone against her paws, the hot, sticky blood… Oh, the blood… She shuddered. The small kit realized Sweetbriar was already finishing her story.

"And that, dear kits, is how Flowerstar became a leader." Sweetbriar smiled lightly.

"Wow, thanks Sweetbriar! That was an amazing story!" Swiftkit purred in delight. Blazekit snored softly, his dark tabby pelt ruffled and familiar amber eyes closed. "I think Blazekit's asleep." He meowed, looking at his friend.

"Well, come on, Swiftkit! We don't want you to be late to your own apprentice ceremony!" Moonkit said, poking him in his side.

"Huh?" mewed Blazekit, who was just waking up.

"Get a move on, slow slug." Swiftkit joked, giving him a friendly cuff to the ears.

As they trotted to the center of camp, they realized cats were already gathering. "Swiftkit!" Snowkit called. She was next to Rosecloud, and it was clear she had just been groomed.

"Sorry guys. I have to go…" Swiftkit gave an apologetic smile as he raced off to his mother and sister.

"Come on, then. We promised to sit right up front and be the loudest two cats in all of ForestClan when it's time to cheer his new name!" Blazekit nudged her playfully. The two kits made their way towards the Highridge just as Foreststar called the meeting. Swiftkit and Snowkit walked as carefully and nobly as they could to their leader.

"Snowkit, you will now be known as Snowpaw. Ivypelt, you are a brave and strong warrior. Please pass these traits on the Snowpaw as her mentor." Foreststar's voice rang out clearly into the hollow. Snowpaw and Ivypelt touched noses and went to watch the rest of the ceremony. "Graywhisker, you will be mentor to Swiftpaw. Your clever tactics make you one of our finest warriors. Pass these traits on to Swiftpaw." Foreststar finished.

"Swiftpaw! Snowpaw! Swiftpaw! Snowpaw!" Blazekit and Moonkit cheered. One thing was for sure, they were definitely happy for their friend. But no one saw the dark shape watching from the shadows.


End file.
